Perhaps you have seen beautiful log homes in magazines or have visited and admired the country farm house plans of friends or acquaintances; or you have just simply loved the idea of log home living ever since you read about it in history class in school or saw it on the wide screen in movies about the frontier. Maybe you lived in a log house in a happy past life. In any case, now that you are ready to build your own log home, how can you make your dream a reality? Before beginning the search for a log-home company, you should think about several things: what are the features you want in your home; what profile and what species of log do you want; how much are you willing to spend and how much of the construction do you want to do yourself?

The first step to make your dream a reality is to browse through catalogues of existing house plans in order to get an idea of what you want and how much it will cost. Online house plans providers have software that will automatically calculate, for free, all costs – materials as well as construction – when you input the figures relevant to your chosen design features and your geographic location. Next, you should choose a log home company. There are hundreds of log home companies in existence, and although the search can be time-consuming you should find the company which can fit your needs best. Online house plans providers often can recommend reputable log home companies in your area. To pare down the list of possible companies you should take into account the log species (e.g. white pine); the log profile (e.g. round); the log size and type (e.g. kiln-dried, air-dried, dead standing, or green); and the system of building you prefer. You should tour some model log homes built by prospective log home companies. Submit your house plans to prospective companies to obtain cost estimates which include an estimate for shipping. When you compare price quotes from different companies, choose the offer which best meets your budget and needs.

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